Every manufacturer dreams of a fully connected series of products and systems tied seamlessly to the Internet of Things while simultaneously delivering a superior vehicle product to market faster than the competition. At Danfoss, its PLUS+1® software platform has spent the past 12 years making that dream a reality for its mobile OEM customers.
“Everything we create at Danfoss Power Solutions is based on PLUS+1 compliance,” says Kevin Faulds, Product & Marketing Manager – Software Solutions at Danfoss Power Solutions. With the Danfoss PLUS+1 platform, every piece of Danfoss hardware and software is connected and communicative.
Beyond individual pieces, the Danfoss PLUS+1 GUIDE systems development platform—takes PLUS+1 compliant products and brings them into an integrated and optimized system quickly. “A lot of the time and effort happens when you have to create a system and integrate components,” says Faulds. “When all the elements of the system speak the same language, the process goes a lot faster.”
Another key product in the PLUS+1 suite is the PLUS+1 Service Tool which allows OEM customers to seamlessly create a service tool at the same time they are developing their control system. Closely-integrated into the machine design, the service tool allows service technicians to manipulate various parameters for calibration, troubleshooting, fine tuning and diagnostics. An OEM’s time to market can be substantially accelerated just by being able to leverage multiple design languages in a single system with integrated debugging, testing and service tool creation.
A unique area of investment for Danfoss is in building a collection of algorithms, subsystems, software blocks and libraries specifically designed for mobile products. “There are generic system development software tools available in the marketplace today, but at Danfoss, we are creating mobile-specific application blocks and libraries — blocks such as “anti-stall” that are used to control the flow of the hydraulics system so as not to stall the engine. You won’t find that kind of solution in a regular tool chain,” says Faulds. “Danfoss is continuously releasing mobile-specific functions and libraries for our customers to help them develop their mobile machinery faster.”
“This is how we fundamentally design and deliver a complete solution quickly for an OEM,” says Faulds. “Create a system in GUIDE using mobile-specific algorithms, application blocks and libraries, and then deploy it through the Service Tool — the whole development chain enabled with PLUS+1.”
